Inspiration
by White Weasel
Summary: When Vera is invited to the Wright Anything Agency for a 'get together', she's nervous to say the least. However, maybe the man who invited her to come can be of some help.
1. Inspiration

**AN: I don't even know what to say... Vera/Clay (I like to call it Verran. Lame name, I know) is just something cute that I randomly thought up one day. I really like the couple now and had to write something for them. I have never actually written anything romantic before, so if this sucks, I'm sorry. I just want you to know that I tried. Well, enjoy this (hopefully) cute two-shot.**

Vera sat on a small wooden stool, gazing at the blank canvas before her. She was trying to paint a new portrait. She needed to pay the bills to her studio somehow. However, she could not get inspired no matter how hard she tried. She had already attempted listening to music, looking at nature, and even taking a nap. Nothing was working.

Just when Vera was about to throw her paintbrush in frustration, someone knocked on the front door. She sighed and set the brush down. The artist then stood up and wiped her hands on her overalls as if there were something to rub off in the first place.

She opened the door before looking through the peephole. She was surprised to see a young man, no older than twenty-five, standing on her doorstep. She had never seen the black haired man before. Maybe he was a solicitor of some sorts. She had to be strong and _not_ give in and buy his product no matter how great he made it sound.

"Er, hey!" The guy raised one of his hands as if he were waving. "I'm Clay Terran and…"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in anything you're selling." Vera said abruptly. Better to get this over with before he made her feel bad.

Clay looked surprised and then started grinning like an idiot. "I'm not selling anything."

"You're not? Then why are you here?"

"Well, you know Apollo, right?"

"Yes, he was my defense attorney a month ago." How could she forget her red clad hero and his magical teal assistant?

"Yep, that's him." Clay chuckled. "We were thinking of having a get together tomorrow night. And, well, would you like to come?"

Vera was a bit stunned. "M-me? I don't know Apollo very well…"

"That's why you should go! To get to know him better." He winked and a blush came across Vera's cheeks. How did he even get that idea?

"I-it's not like that." She protested. Clay adjusted his visor as he beamed.

"I'm just teasing." He crossed his arms over his chest as if to retain body heat. "If you wouldn't mind, can I come in?"

"I suppose." She sidestepped so that he could enter her studio. "I'm sorry for the mess; I wasn't expecting company."

"Nah, it's fine. My apartment is even worse." A look of embarrassment came over him. "Not that this is bad. It's actually really neat and tidy. As spick-and-span as a rocket ship, but not one that's been in space for a while. One that just taken off and has been cleaned thoroughly with everything still stored away."

As the space enthusiast rambled on Vera gave a short, quiet, laugh. He eventually stopped and took a seat on one of the empty chairs.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Vera asked politely as Clay sat down on a chair.

"I'm fine, thanks though." She sat down opposite of him and began to fidget. She wasn't used to talking with many people, especially ones she didn't know very well. Clay was looking around the studio. "So, you're an artist?"

"Uh, yeah. Well, not officially. I haven't painted anything yet…" Vera let her eyes wander over to her empty canvas sitting on her easel.

Clay's eyes showed his pity for only a moment before he returned to his energetic self. "Well, I'm sure that they'll look even more amazing than the nighttime sky when you're done with them." Vera gave a small smile at his comment.

"You like space a lot, don't you?"

"Yup, I'm actually an astronaut… in training." Clay gave a sheepish grin at the second part of his statement.

"So you've never actually been to space?"

"Not yet, but one day, one day I'm going to be up there with all the stars, exploring the final frontier." Vera noticed the way his eyes sparkled like the stars he was talking about. Clay then went on to talk about space and though she never fully understood what he was talking about, she loved how enthusiastic he became.

"Supernovas are really pretty, but kind of overrated if you think about it. I mean I know beauty is fleeting, but that? Who wants something that's amazingly beautiful for a time, but eventually fades away?"

"It's like a chalk drawing on the street. It looks great at first, but soon the rain washes it away."

"Exactly! Whenever I told that to Apollo he always says tha-" The space fanatic was interrupted by the ringing of his cellphone. He pressed it to his ear. "Hello?... Oh, hey Apollo, what's up?... I'm over at Vera's." He pulled the phone away from his mouth. "It's okay if I call you that, right?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Clay returned to his call.

"What do you mean I'm late?... Oh my gosh, I'm sorry I totally forgot. I came over to Vera's to ask her and stuff and, well, lost track of the time… Shut up." His face was now tinted red. "Yeah, I'll be over in like, five minutes… Yep, see you there." He ended the call. "Sorry, but I have to get going."

"You don't need to apologize. You were very nice company."

"You too" He beamed at her, "So you're coming tomorrow?"

"I guess so, but I'm not exactly sure where I'm supposed to go…"

"Don't worry about it. I'll pick you up here. How does five sound?"

"Perfect." Clay gave a small wave and went out the door. Vera sighed and smiled faintly. She then looked at a small clock. Almost an hour had passed since Clay had shown up at her door and distracted her from work. It was a nice distraction though.

The young artist sat back down. She still needed to paint something and no matter how much enjoyment she got out of her recent conversation it would still get done. But maybe, just maybe, it would be just a little bit easier now.


	2. Reassurance

Vera sat anxiously waiting for Clay to arrive at the designated time. She couldn't help but be slightly nervous for the upcoming outing. She didn't know much about anyone who was going to be there, and it could become awkward if all she did was sit there and watch while everyone else was having a good time.

Right now Vera was dressed in jeans with a plain purple shirt, but she wasn't sure if she was entirely satisfied with the outfit. What sort of thing did you wear for a 'get together'? Was she not dressed up enough?

Before she could fret over it for too long, there was a pounding on the door. Clay. She left her seat and gave a quick glance in the mirror before opening the door. Clay was standing there wearing jeans with a blue jacket over a tee shirt. He still sported his black visor though. Vera almost sighed in relief; she hadn't gone overboard with her attire.

"Hey, Vera, you ready to go?" Clay asked cheerily.

"Yes, I just need to grab my coat." Vera carefully took her black jacket off of the chair where it had been laying and slipped it on. "Okay, I'm ready."

She walked outside and closed the door behind her, making sure it was locked. "Apollo's place isn't too far from here so hopefully we won't get cold."

"You already look cold." Vera commented after seeing how red his nose was. Clay simply laughed.

"I live on the other side of town, so it was a long walk."

"Th-the other side of town?! Why didn't you take the bus?"

The two came to a point where they had to cross the street and they looked both ways before crossing. "Do you want to know how much it costs to take the bus? Besides, walking is a great form of exercise. I've got to stay in top physical condition after all."

"Still… Don't you get nervous when you're all alone, especially during the nighttime hours?" It might have just been Vera's bad experience from when she was a child, but to her that was one of the scariest things that could happen.

"Nah, not really. Nobody's going to want to mug me, I'm broke!" Vera couldn't help but chuckle at this. Within the next five minutes they arrived at the Wright Anything Agency. Clay rapped his knuckles against the wood. Soon enough Apollo opened the door and smiled.

"Clay, Vera, thanks for coming. Come on in." After the two entered and hung their coats on the hooks available. They looked around the room and saw that they weren't the only ones there. There was a teenage girl in a top hat, whom they both identified as Trucy, a boy with a pink jacket and hair that made him look like a fox, a woman with a lab coat, and a man with platinum blonde hair and lots of chains.

"I think everyone's here now." Trucy chimed happily. "Though I don't think everyone knows each other, besides Polly and me."

"I guess I'll start then." The blonde man ran a hand through his hair and smiled. He looked over at Clay. "Everyone here should know me except for you. I'm Klavier Gavin."

"Woah, Apollo's told me about you. You're that singer for the… the… Gallivanters, right?" Klavier laughed.

"Nein, Gavinners, but now I'm simply a prosecutor." Vera wasn't exactly sure about why he wasn't a singer any more, but she figured that now would not be the best time to ask.

"Well, I guess it's my turn." Clay said. "I'm Clay Terran, astronaut in training."

"That's pretty tight yo. My name's Wocky Kitaki, my old man's got a bakery and I s'pose I'm gonna go into the business when he retires."

"From the way you talk I'd have thought you were a gangster." Clay joked.

"That's still an open option bizzoy." Wocky was starting to make Vera uncomfortable with all his 'gangster slang'. She glanced over at Clay and exchanged a look that conveyed the message '_just who is this guy?_' before they turned back to the rest of the group.

"Don't forget that I'm a detective." The woman with the white lab coat reminded Wocky as she munched on some sort of snack. "For any of you who didn't know, I'm Ema Skye."

"I-I-I guess that leaves me. I'm V-Vera Misham." She felt so small. Everyone else had cool jobs like being a detective or a gangster; all she did was paint some pictures.

"Now that we all at least know each other's names, is anyone hungry?" Apollo asked sheepishly. There were cries of 'yes' and 'kind of'. The casually dressed attorney went into the small kitchenette and came back with four boxes of pizza. Wocky had also apparently brought two dozen muffins courtesy of his father.

Everyone got their food and sat in various places around the room. Vera chose to sit on the end of the long couch. Clay was next to her, followed by Apollo, with Trucy at the other end. Wocky was curled up on the recliner, while Klavier and Ema opted to sit on the floor. There was small talk about the meal and it was eventually decided to watch a movie. Wocky thought it would be a great idea to rent a scary movie.

"Wait, wouldn't it be better if we watched a comedy or something." Apollo interjected.

"Aww, don't be a stick in the mud Polly." Trucy pouted.

"Ja Herr Forehead, don't tell me you're scared."

"I-I am not scared! I'm fine. I'll watch the dumb movie." Secretly Vera had hoped Apollo would hold his ground. She hadn't voiced her fears, but she was not looking forward to getting scared out of her wits.

Sure enough, within the first thirty minutes Vera was shaking, and attempting to cover her eyes. Of course the fact that Trucy had decided to turn off the lights wasn't helping either.

"Hey, Vera, are you okay?" Clay whispered after seeing how scared she was.

"I-I-I'm all right." The artist lied.

"Don't worry," Clay looked as if he didn't know what to do, but hesitantly put his arm around her. "It's only a movie. Just look, you can totally tell that's fake blood." Vera did as she was told and turned her attention back to the screen. Now that she was looking for it, she could tell just how cheesy some of the effects were.

That didn't keep her from becoming afraid though.

Every time that Vera did become frightened Clay would squeeze her shoulder in encouragement. Before she knew it the movie was over and the lights were turned back on. A few people seemed to be staring at Clay and Vera, which caused Clay to hastily remove his arm while fighting off a blush.

"Yo, yo, yo, what's the happs here?" Wocky asked with a smirk as he looked at the two. He was shut up when a pillow was thrown at him by Trucy.

"Nothing's 'the happs'." Clay assured nervously.

"Really?" Klavier flashed an award winning smile. "Because it looks like you were trying to make a move on Fraulein Misham."

"I-I was not!" He protested. Klavier simply raised his eyebrows in mock disbelief. He was still smiling.

"He's not lying. My bracelet would've reacted." His best friend backed him up. Vera was glad to hear this; it would have been very awkward if Clay had tried anything. Then why did she also feel… disappointed?

The group then decided to watch another movie, though no one was paying attention this time. Klavier had apparently stolen Ema's snackoos within the first five minutes, causing everyone to laugh at the detective's reaction. People then began to talk so loud that nobody could've heard the TV if they wanted to. Eventually, it came to an end when Winfred Kitaki came to pick his son up.

Clay and Vera left soon after, seeing that it was becoming dark. They said their goodbyes and headed out the door. The cold air hit them immediately and both instinctively shivered. They walked in silence for a couple of minutes before Clay spoke up.

"So how was it?"

"Better than I thought." Vera admitted. "That movie almost had me though… thank you."

"Heh, it was nothing." He replied with a slight flush. He was actually kind of cute, especially his laugh and maybe…

_No, that could never happen. He even said so himself. _She looked back over at him. He seemed to be thinking about something intensely. When they came to an intersection, and were hard pressed to find an opportunity to cross. Clay took Vera's hand and began to run across the road so that they didn't get hit by an oncoming car.

When they reached the other side they just stood for a minute to let Vera catch her breath, all the while still holding hands. When Vera noticed this she tried to let go of his hand, obviously embarrassed. Clay held strong though and simply continued walking.

After Vera got over the initial shock of his action, she glanced over at him. His face still had the reddish tint to it, but also held a small smile. Warmth spread through Vera's whole body, despite how cold it truly was.

**AN: Yep, the big romance was them holding hands :P I just could not imagine Vera being someone who would just go along with a kiss when they're not even dating. I also think that Clay would respect that. I have a few more cute story ideas for this couple; ones with more actually romance. I also have a really heartbreaking one but... I think I'll hold back on that for a while.**

**Please drop a review to let me know what you thought. I can only improve through advice.**


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